Jaina Epistemology

SR No.: 006738
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Indra Chandra Shastri
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith
Publication Year: 1990
Total Pages: 516
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 21 MB

Page 273

Epistemology of Jainas
ideas (samjñā) volitions (cetana) and various other mental phenomena. upto the number of forty-six separate elements. So, it is that feelings come to be viewed as objects of the mind. Out of the 75 elements known as dharmas in Buddhism, 64 belong to the mental group (caitta dharmaḥ). To this we can add citta or the mind as a receptive faculty. The remaining ten are five senses and the five objects. They are differentiated from the mind and mental elements as being material (rūpiṇaḥ) while the latter are immaterial (arūpiṇaḥ). Besides the fortysix mental phenomena the mind contains fourteen elementary forces (viprayukta samskara), the element of character (avijñapti) and the three elements which are eternal (asamskrta): among the latter is Nirvana, the chief dharma. The common feature of all these elements is that they are apprehended by the intellect directly without any intermediate agency of the senses. In the apprehension of sense-objects there is likewise participation by the intellect; but these dharmas are nonsensuous objects, they are the exclusive domain of receptive intellect, just as colour is the exclusive domain of the sense of vision. The Buddhist does not regard the soul as different from mind.
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In Jainism, the mind is known as no-sense (anindriya) or not-sense (no-indriya). The terms 'no' or 'not' in this case, do not mean negation but comparatively lesser degree of the character of a sense. Though mind also is a source of knowledge, it is regarded as no-indriya; because, it is dependent on other senses for grasping the external objects. It is a common factor in all cognitions. The object of other senses is fixed but the mind is not confined to any of the physical qualities. It is capable of apprehending the past and future also. The main function of the mind is thinking. It arranges the data given by the senses.
Like other senses the mind also is divided into two varieties
1. Tattvartha, 2,19